THE  PEOPLE 

versus 

THE  POLITICIANS. 

WHERE  AND  HOW  THE  PEOPLE'S  MONEY 
GOES,  AND  HOW  POLITICAL  MORALS  ARE  CORRUPTED. 


'2d  Edition, 

WITH  ALTERATIONS  AND  ADDITIONS. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Corruptions  of  the  Fee  System,       ........  2 

The  Salary  Law  of  1876,  3 

The-Salary  Board,  4 

The  Sheriff's  Office,  4 

The  Kegister  of  Wills  and  Clerk  of  Orphans'  Court,      ....  5 

The  Magistrates'  Courts, ..........  5 

Reduction  of  Salaries  of  Teachers  and  Janitors,      .       .       .       .  .6 

The  Public  Ledger  on  Judicial  and  other  Salaries,        ....  7 

Evil  Consequences  of  Overpaying  Officeholders,  8 

Increase  of  City  Debt,   9 

Election  Frauds,  9 

Schemes  for  Ring  Aggrandizement — Special  Legislation,      .       .  .11 

Public  Disgrace — the  Legislature,  12 

The  Bar,  13 

The  Press,  15 

Conclusion,  15 


The  attention  that  is  being  given  to  revising  the  governments 
of  our  large  cities  with  a  view  to  check  the  alarming  growth  of 
extravagance  and  corruption,  and  the  effort  being  made  by  Pres- 
ident Hayes  for  the  administration  of  government  according  to 
the  principles  of  common  honesty,  and  for  the  best  interests  of 
the  people  at  large,  paramount  to  mere  party  considerations, 
make  it  the  duty  of  individual  citizens  to  aid  these  efforts  j  and 
such  is  the  motive  which  prompts  this  publication. 

The  particular  vice  which  pervades  the  administration  of 


lEx  IGtbrtH 

SEYMOUR  DURST 


government,  municipal,  state,  and  national,  in  this  country,  is 
the  disposition  among  officeholders  to  regard  government  as  a 
thing  existing  for  their  especial  benefit  rather  than  that  of  the 
people,  and  to  form  rings  and  combinations,  and  resort  to  any 
measure,  however  base,  to  accomplish  their  selfish  purposes  and 
perpetuate  their  power.  We  have  seen  how  distinguished  sena- 
tors and  statesmen  have  put  forth  their  greatest  efforts,  not  to 
promote  the  prosperity  and  honor  of  the  nation,  but  to  retain  or 
secure  to  some  party  favorite  the  office  of  collector  of  revenue, 
or  some  other  lucrative  position.  The  special  object  of  this 
pamphlet  will  be,  however,  to  show  how  far  the  people  of  Phila- 
delphia are  victims  to  the  rapacity  and  corruption  of  profes- 
sional office-holders  and  politicians  ;  but  the  expositions  given 
will  doubtless  find,  though  in  much  less  degree,  a  parallel  in 
some  other  places,  and  the  circulation  of  the  present  edition  will 
not  be  confined  to  the  locality  mentioned. 

Corruptions  of  the  Fee  System,. 

One  of  the  most  prolific  sources  of  corruption  in  Philadelphia  has 
been  the  enormous  profits  realized  from  the  fees  of  the  public 
offices.  This  is  what  has  fed,  fostered,  and  sustained  the  ring 
that  has  usurped  the  government  of  our  city,  and  diffused  its  poison- 
ous influence  into  our  whole  system,  and  controlled  the  legislation 
of  the  State  in  its  behalf.  It  was  one  of  the  chief  aims  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  of  1 873  to  break  up  this  system,  and  the  rem- 
edy provided  was,  that  all  the  fees  derived  from  these  offices  should 
be  paid  into  the  public  treasury,  and  the  officers  paid  by  salaries. 

A  determined  effort  was  made  by  the  officeholding  interests  to 
defeat  the  Constitution,  but  it  was  carried  by  an  acknowledged 
majority  of  some  34,000  in  Philadelphia  and  150,000  in  the 
State.  Next  came  into  office  a  new  District  Attorney,  Prothon- 
otary,  Recorder  of  Deeds,  Clerk  of  the  Quarter  Sessions,  and 
Coroner,  who  took  the  ground  that  as  the  Legislature  had  passed 
no  law  providing  salaries,  they  were  still  entitled,  notwithstand- 
ing the  Constitution,  to  have  the  fees  of  their  respective  offices, 
and  proceeded  to  pocket  them  as  usual. 

The  new  Constitution  went  into  effect  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1874,  and  required  that  the  Legislature  should  at  its  first  session, 
or  as  soon  as  might  be,  pass  all  such  laws  as  should  be  necessary 
for  carrying  it  into  effect.  Under  ring  influence,  however,  the 
first  session,  that  of  1874,  passed,  and  no  salary  law  was  enacted. 


3 


The  session  of  1875  passed,  and  still  no  salary  law  was  enacted. 
The  session  of  1876  passed  until  the  31st  of  March  of  that  year, 
when,  under  the  pressure  of  public  sentiment,  the  salary  law  was 
passed  and  approved. 

In  the  Convention  an  amendment  had  been  moved  that  the 
salaries  of  these  officers  should  none  of  them  be  as  high  as  those 
of  our  judges — S7000  a  year.  It  was  objected,  however,  that 
this,  though  otherwise  approved,  was  too  much  like  legislation 
and  should  be  left  to  the  Legislature. 

The  Salary  Law  of  1876. 

And  now  let  us  see  what  officeholding  interests  in  the  Legis- 
lature have  dictated  that  the  people  of  Philadelphia  shall  pay  to 
their  county  officers,  and  let  all  taxpayers  pay  particular  atten- 
tion. District  Attorney,  815,000  a  year ! !  with  one  assistant  at 
$6000,  one  at  S5000,  and  one  at  83000  a  year.  This  to  the 
District  Attorney  being  more  than  double  what  is  received  by 
the  judges  of  the  courts,  three  times  the  amount  given  to  the 
District  Attorney  of  Pittsburgh,  who  has  but  one  assistant  at 
$1500  a  year,  and  three  to  five  times  more  than  it  should  be. 
Besides,  the  District  Attorney,  with  ample  assistants,  can  keep 
up  his  private  practice,  while  the  judges  can  have  no  other  busi- 
ness, and  have  no  assistants. 

And  so  the  list  goes  on.  Sheriff,  $15,000 ;  Prothonotary, 
$10,000;  Clerk  of  the  Quarter  Sessions,  $10,000;  Recorder  of 
Deeds,  S12,000  ;  Register  of  Wills  and  Clerk  of  Orphans'  Court, 
$10,000;  Treasurer,  $10,000;  Controller,  $10,000;  Coroner, 
$6000  ;  Deputy  Coroner,  $2500 ;  and  three  Commissioners,  each 
$5000;  making  an  aggregate  of  $129,500  to  the  ten  offices  be- 
fore mentioned.  Think  of  the  tens  of  thousands  thus  so  liberally 
bestowed  by  a  city  overburdened  with  debt  and  taxation,  and  so 
many  thousands  of  its  citizens  in  want  of  the  necessities  of  life 
and  of  employment  as  the  means  of  obtaining  them  ! 

But  a  most  important  and  extraordinary  feature  of  the  Salary 
Act  of  1876  remains  to  be  noticed.  We  have  seen  that  the  third 
session  from  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  had  nearly  passed 
before  any  salary  law  was  enacted,  and  when  it  did  at  last  come 
it  was  with  a  provision  thai  it  should  not  take  effect  till  the  expira- 
tion of  the  term  of  present  incumbents  of  county  offices;  the  design 
being  to  give  to  District  Attorney  Sheppard,  Prothonotary 
Mann,  Recorder  of  Deeds  Lane,  Quarter  Sessions  Clerk  Bing- 


4 


ham,  and  Coroner  Goddard  the  enormous  fees  of  their  respective 
offices  for  another  full  term,  in  fraud  of  the  Constitution. 

And  this  outrageous  steal,  for  it  can  be  called  nothing  less, 
has  lately  received,  rightfully  or  wrongfully  as  a  matter  of  law> 
the  indorsement  of  another  branch  of  the  officeholding  brother- 
hood— the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  It  appears  painfully 
apparent  that  as  to  the  amount  of  compensation  which  they  may 
be  compelled  to  pay  to  men  in  office,  the  people  have  no  rights 
for  which  they  can  enforce  respect  otherwise  than  through  the 
ballot-box. 

The  Salary  Board. 

The  Salary  Act  only  determines  the  pay  of  the  principal 
officers  with  a  few  exceptions.  The  number  of  clerks  and 
assistants  and  their  compensation  is  mostly  left  to  a  Salary 
Board,  consisting  of  the  County  Commissioners  and  the  Con- 
troller. It  was  doubtless  thought  that  a  board  thus  constituted 
could  be  relied  upon  for  loyalty  to  officeholding  interests,  and 
so  the  result  has  proved,  the  intention  evidently  being  to  swallow 
up  in  salaries  and  expenses  the  entire  receipts  of  the  respective 
offices  as  far  as  possible.  And  it  has  been  alleged  that  some  of 
the  assistants  do  not  themselves  get  the  salaries  awarded  them, 
in  other  words,  that  there  is  a  divide  somewhere. 

Sheriff's  Office. 

The  first  case  that  came  before  the  board  was  that  of  the 
Sheriff's  office,  as  to  the  number  of  deputies  and  assistants  and 
their  compensation ;  and  the  following  is  the  entire  list,  which 
it  will  be  interesting  to  taxpayers  to  examine:  The  Sheriff  him- 
self, $15,000;  real  estate  deputy,  $6000;  and  his  clerk,  $1500; 
personal  estate  deputy,  $4000;  appearance  clerk,  $1200;  and 
his  assistant,  $800;  execution  clerk,  $1500;  fee  clerk,  $1200; 
six  deputy  sheriffs,  each  $1500,  and  a  clerk  for  each,  $1000; 
auctioneer,  $600;  messenger,  $800;  bill-poster,  $1000;  two 
solicitors,  each  $2000,  and  one  assistant,  $1500;  driver  of  van, 
$1800;  Quarter  Sessions  deputy,  $800,  and  his  assistant,  $400; 
four  court  deputies,  each  $200;  making  altogether  $57,900  a 
year,  independent  of  all  extras,  to  run  the  Sheriff's  office.  One 
instance  will  serve  by  comparison  to  show  how  liberally  the 
people's  money  has  been  dealt  with.  The  last  Sheriff  had  one 
solicitor  at  a  salary,  as  is  understood,  of  $2400.  There  are  now 
three,  two  at  $2000  each,  and  one  to  do  the  work  at  $1500; 
making  $5500  against  $2400.    In  one  case  it  was  the  money  of 


5 


an  individual;  in  the  other  it  is  the  money  of  the  taxpayers,  and 
this  makes  the  difference. 

The  Register  of  Wills. 
The  office  of  the  Register  of  Wills  may  also  be  referred  to  as 
further  evidence  of  the  great  liberality  of  the  Salary  Board  in 
dealing  with  other  people's  money.  The  Register  himself,  and 
as  Clerk  of  the  Orphans'  Court,  by  the  Act  of  Assembly,  is 
given  SI 0,000  a  year;  and  the  Salary  Board  has  decreed  the 
following:  Deputy  Register,  86000;  State  Appraiser,  $5000; 
two  transcribing  clerks,  each  $1500;  recording  clerk,  $1500; 
two  assistant  recording  clerks,  each  $1200;  account  clerk,  S1500; 
messenger,  8800 ;  miscellaneous,  $500,  making  a  grand  total  of 
$30,700.  And  the  clerk  of  the  Orphans'  Court  has  since  been 
given  an  additional  $2000  a  year  for  a  solicitor,  which  it  is  un- 
derstood goes  to  his  brother,  a  nice  little  family  arrangement ; 
and  apropos  to  all  this,  the  judges  of  the  Orphans'  Court  having 
been  given  jurisdiction  over  costs  in  this  court,  and  in  the 
Register  of  Wills  office,  have  largely  increased  if  not  more  than 
doubled  them,  making  them  in  many  cases  extremely  oppressive. 

The  Magistrates'  Courts. 

The  new  Constitution  and  act  of  Assembly  provide  for  twenty- 
four  Magistrates'  Courts.  There  had  previously  been  two  alder- 
men for  each  ward,  making  some  sixty  aldermen,  who  were  glad 
to  serve  for  the  fees  given  by  law.  The  magistrates  in  lieu  of 
fees  are  paid  each  a  salary  of  $3000  a  year,  and  are  directed 
to  charge  the  same  fees  as  were  given  to  the  aldermen,  and  pay 
them  over  monthly  to  the  City  Treasurer.  The  returns  of  the 
magistrates  for  1877,  show  that  but  two  of  the  twenty-four  return 
fees  to  the  amount  of  their  salaries  :  William  H.  List,  83264.40, 
and  R.  R.  Smith,  83207.55.  The  entire  aggregate  of  fees  returned 
by  twenty-three  magistrates  (one  being  deceased)  for  1877,  is  in 
round  numbers  including  some  fines  and  penalties  829,200,  and 
the  salaries  paid  them  869,000,  being  a  loss  to  the  city  of  $39,800. 
And  a  singular  feature  of  the  system,  showing  further  the  reck- 
lessness with  which  the  people's  money  is  squandered  among 
politicians,  is  that  the  more  magistrates  have  to  do  the  less  pay 
they  receive,  and  vice  versa.  A  very  few,  occupying  the  most 
central  positions,  have  much  to  do,  and  have  large  expenses 
for  office  rent,  clerk  hire,  stationery,  etc.,  while  the  great  majority 
of  them  can  pocket  nearly  the  whole  of  their  $3000  a  year, 
which  is  more  than  double  what  most  of  them  could  earn  in 


any  other  way,  and  would  be  glad  to  get.  Though  largely  made 
up  of  the  commonest  ward  politicians,  they  are  given  as  much 
salary  as  was  paid  to  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  more  than  was  paid  to  the  associate  judges  of  that  court, 
and  to  the  judges  of  the  District  Court  and  Common  Pleas  prior 
to  1866,  twelve  years  ago. 

Reduction  of  Salaries  of  Teachers  and  others. 

In  view  of  the  lavish  squandering  of  public  money  among 
our  local  politicians,  it  seems  like  the  addition  of  a  heartless  and 
cruel  farce,  to  seek  to  save  a  few  thousands  by  cutting  down  the 
salaries  of  the,  at  best,  perhaps,  ill-paid  school  teachers  and  the 
janitors  of  the  school  houses.  But  this  was  the  work  of  City 
Councils,  and  they  not  having  as  they  should  have,  perhaps, 
the  fixing  of  the  compensation  of  all  persons  paid  out  of  the  City 
Treasury,  their  action  in  this  particular  may  of  itself  have  been 
proper  and  consistent  enough,  but  in  view  of  the  awkward 
position  in  which  it  places  some  of  our  fellow-citizens,  it  is  rather 
strange  that  it  should  have  been  allowed.  The  saving  to  the 
city  by  the  deduction  of  five  per  cent,  from  the  salaries  of  some 
two  thousand  teachers,  and  ten  per  cent,  from  the  janitors,  is 
estimated  at  the  trifling  sum  of  875,000  a  year.  Why  did  not 
the  valiant  Col.  Mann  of  the  Common  Pleas,  the  redoubtable 
General  Bingham  of  the  Quarter  Sessions,  or  Recorder  of  Deeds 
Lane,  who  are  still  under  the  fee  system,  come  forward  either  of 
them,  and  for  the  present  at  least,  volunteer  his  check  for  875,000 
each  year  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  school  teachers  and  janitors  ? 
(  h  the  three  together  might  have  done  it,  and  scarcely  missed 
the  amount.  Or  the  District  Attorney,  Sheriff,  Register  of 
Wills,  County  Treasurer,  Controller,  and  Coroner,  out  of  their 
salaries  and  with  the  help  of  their  assistants  might  have  made 
up  the  amount,  and  still  be  much  better  paid  than  the  judges, 
in  proportion  to  what  they  do.  Or  some  of  the  Register's  deputies 
and  solicitor,  and  a  few  of  the  Sheriff's  solicitors  might  in  a  fit 
of  desperation,  have  resigned  and  given  up  their  places  and 
salaries  altogether,  rather  than  see  such  a  pittance  taken  from 
each  of  the  teachers  and  janitors.  But,  who  knows,  some  of 
these  gentlemen  may  only  have  wanted  a  hint,  and  may  yet 
shell  out  and  do  the  honorable  thing  any  day;  or,  if  they  do  not, 
Recorder  Quay  may  come  forward  and  shame  them  all  by  footing 
the  lull  himself. 


7 


The  Public  Ledger  on  Judicial  and  other  salaries. 

In  an  editorial  on  the  subject  of  our  judicial  salaries  on  the 
29th  of  April  last,  the  Ledger  used  the  following  language: 
"  The  District  Attorney,  who  prosecutes  the  criminal  pleas  be- 
fore these  courts,  is  given  (by  legislative  act)  $15,000,  which  is  not 
a  dollar  too  much  for  the  right  sort  of  man ;  and  his  first  deputy 
is  allowed  $6000,  which  is  none  too  much  for  an  efficient  and 
faithful  officer  in  that  position."  It  is  to  be  sincerely  regretted 
that  a  journal  so  highly  respected  and  widely  circulating  as  the 
Ledger,  should  utter  an  opinion  so  obviously  erroneous  and 
utterly  untenable.  This  was  said  in  course  of  an  argument  to 
show  that  the  salaries  of  the  judges  should  be  $7000  instead  of 
$5000,  which  of  itself  is  quite  a  different  thing.  But  does  the 
Ledger  maintain  that  the  District  Attorney,  with  plenty  of  paid 
assistants,  and  the  opportunity  to  keep  up  his  private  practice, 
should  be  paid  more  than  twice  as  much  as  the  judges  who  have 
to  do  all  their  work  themselves,  and  are  precluded  from  all 
private  business?  Will  not  the  Ledger  concede  that  the  judges 
ought  to  be  paid  more  than  the  District  Attorney?  That  if 
$15,000  is  "not  a  dollar  too  much"  for  the  District  Attorney,  the 
judges  ought  to  have,  say  at  least  $16,000,  if  not  a  full  one- 
fourth  more,  or  $20,000?  But  all  the  Ledger  asks  for  the 
judges  is  $7000.  And  if  they  are  perfectly  satisfied  with  that, 
as  they  appear  to  be,  why  increase  them  to  $16,000  or  $20,000, 
in  order  to  be  in  proper  proportion  to  the  District  Attorney? 
Does  it  not  follow  that  instead  of  the  judges,  salaries  being  too 
low,  that  of  the  District  Attorney  is  too  high  and  should  be  re- 
duced, and  that  the  Ledger  is  utterly  wrong? 

As  to  the  question  between  $5000  and  $7000  for  the  Philadelphia 
Common  Pleas  judges,  the  State,  which  pays  all  judges,  has  never 
paid  them  more  than  $5000,  and  prior  to  1866,  they  received  but 
$2800.  The  additional  $2000  which  they  have  received  since 
1868,  was  wrongfully  imposed  upon  the  people  of  Philadelphia, 
until  the  new  Constitution  relieved  them.  Now  that  everything 
else  is  reduced,  instead  of  increasing,  is  there  not  more  reason 
for  putting  the  salaries  of  the  judges  back  to  what  they  were 
prior  to  1866,  $2800?  And  in  this  connection  it  may  be  well 
to  inquire  by  what  authority  the  Common  Pleas  judges  are  still 
paid,  as  is  understood,  $7000,  when  the  law  authorizes  but  $5000. 
The  Ledger  will  excuse  freedom  of  criticism.  It  is  a  very  com- 
mon thing  even  among  members  of  the  bar  to  talk  big,  and  re- 


8 


mark  what  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  this,  that,  and  the 
other  one  makes  by  his  immense  practice ;  and  what  sacrifices 
so  and  so  have  made  by  going  on  the  bench,  but  it  is  mostly  the 
sheerest  bosh.  The  number  of  those  willing  and  glad,  in  a 
pecuniary  sense,  to  take  judgeships  at  $5000  a  year  and  less,  will 
always  be  sufficient  for  an  ample  selection ;  and  better  still, 
there  are  generally  enough  willing  to  fill  these  positions  to  whom 
the  amount  of  salary  is  of  little  consequence.  Unbecoming  efforts 
have  been  sometimes  made  to  obtain  judgeships  at  the  present 
figures,  and  even  less  in  localities  where  less  is  paid. 

The  judges  of  the  Orphans'  Courts  are  fully  equal  in  every 
respect  to  the  average  of  the  Common  Pleas  judges,  and  have 
more  work  to  do,  and  receive  no  more  than  $5000  a  year. 

Evil  consequences  of  overpaying  Officeholders. 

To  pay  more  for  any  service  than  it  is  reasonably  worth,  and 
than  competent  and  trustworthy  persons  can  be  found  to  do  it 
for,  is  a  departure  from  sound  business  principles  and  entails 
evil  on  every  side.  In  the  case  of  public  offices,  it  invites  a  de- 
moralizing struggle  for  them,  in  which  the  least  scrupulous  are 
most  likely  to  succeed,  and  the  public  would  be  better  served 
for  one-fourth  or  one-third  the  amounts  fixed  in  most  instances 
under  the  new  salary  system.  Much  the  larger  portion  of  those 
who  aspire  to  these  positions,  are  impoverished  by  the  fruitless 
attempt  to  get  them.  The  successful  candidate  is  as  often  ruined 
as  benefited.  Quite  recently  an  ex-Recorder  of  Deeds,  who  re- 
tired from  the  office  with  a  large  fortune,  was  sent  to  the  House 
of  Correction,  broken  down  in  purse  and  morals,  as  the  conse- 
quence of  having  been  the  successful  candidate  for  that  office, 
and  his  family  reduced  to  penury  and  distress. 

Men  are  maddened  by  such  temptations  as  they  are  by  gam- 
bling, and  their  whole  lives  are  unsettled,  and  wretchedness 
brought  upon  their  descendants  by  the  breaking  up  of  habits 
of  patient  industry  and  economy. 

But  the  greatest  evil  of  all  arises  from  the  class  of  adventurers 
who  are  brought  into  power  by  the  hope  of  living  in  extravagance 
at  the  public  expense ;  and  the  general  political  demoralization 
and  corruption  that  thence  ensue. 

The  burden  of  taxation  which  has  been  brought  upon  the 
people  by  this  system,  is  not  the  less  an  evil  because  richly 
dese  rved  by  most  of  them  for  their  culpable  indifference  in  allow- 


9 


ing  themselves  to  be  trodden  underfoot,  and  not  lending  their 
aid  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  ring  oligarchy. 

Increase  of  City  Debt. 
After  the  exhibition  before  given  of  the  great  liberality  of  the 
men  who  have  been  allowed  to  rule  the  city  for  some  years  past, 
it  may  be  well  to  take  a  glance  at  the  financial  result.  Xot  to 
go  further  back,  the  debt  of  the  city  on  the  1st  of  January,  ]  872, 
was  in  round  figures  853,270,000.  On  January  1st,  1878,  it 
was  $73,615,000;  an  increase  of  £20,345,000  in  six  years,  or  at 
the  rate  of  $3,390,000  a  year.  Are  the  people  content  to  let 
this  thing  go  on  till  their  entire  hardearned  possessions  are 
swallowed  up?  But  for  the  enormous  debt  thus  piled  up  the 
city  might,  and  ought  now  to  be  making  improvements  liberally, 
to  give  employment  to  the  thousands  who  so  much  need  it. 

Election  Frauds. 

The  question  will  doubtless  recur  to  many,  why  do  the 
people  continue  to  submit  to  all  this  imposition  ?  On  the  part 
of  a  large  body  of  citizens  it  is  from  a  blind  and  thoughtless 
adherence  to  party,  or  culpable  neglect  of  the  plainest  duties  of 
citizenship ;  but  there  are  difficulties  that  those  who  have  not 
known  them  from  actual  observation  can  hardly  understand. 
When  there  is  danger  of  a  lack  of  votes  to  sustain  ring  suprem- 
acy, every  species  of  fraud  is  resorted  to  that  depraved  ingenuity 
can  devise — repeating,  false  personation,  voting  the  names  of 
dead  men,  the  substitution  of  tickets,  false  counting,  and  making 
false  returns,  with  a  determination  at  all  events  to  get  their  men 
,in  regardless  of  the  legal  votes,  the  election  being  thus  rendered 
a  mere  farce.  And  while  these  fraudulent  practices  have  for 
some  years  been  practiced  principally  by  the  Republican  ring, 
because  they  have  had  the  upper  hand,  and  generally  the  sharp- 
est men  at  the  polls,  it  is  found  that  neither  party  can  be  trusted ; 
and  a  third  party  has  no  chance  of  getting  its  votes  fairly  count- 
ed ;  they  are  sure  to  be  appropriated  by  one  or  the  other,  or 
thrown  out  by  common  consent.  This  was  the  experience  of  the 
Reform  Association,  and  it  can  never  be  known  how  many  votes 
were  cast  for  its  candidates. 

The  election  officers  are  usually  all  party  men,  Republican  or 
Democratic,  and  if  overseers  are  appointed  under  the  law,  the 
courts  only  take  those  nominated  by  these  two  parties,  and  there 
is  no  additional  security;  they  are  all  tarred  with  the  same 
stick,  and  increase  of  the  number  gives  no  additional  security  for 


10 


an  honest  election  to  a  party  or  candidate  having  no  election  offi- 
cers ;  and  as  between  these  parties  a  common  practice  in  many 
localities  is  for  the  Republican  to  bribe  the  Democratic  officers, 
and  then  manufacture  majorities  to  suit  themselves.  Moreover, 
each  of  the  twelve  to  fifteen  thousand  employees  of  the  city  from 
the  gas,  fire,  water,  highway,  and  other  departments,  whose  duties 
can  be  made  to  admit  of  it,  is  expected  to  be  on  duty  election 
day,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  voting  places  swarm  with 
these  unscrupulous  party  dependents  from  early  to  late,  to  brow- 
beat and  overawe  voters,  engineer  fraud,  and  by  every  means? 
fair  or  foul,  aid  to  keep  the  party  in  power.  If  attempts  are 
made  to  prosecute  frauds,  grand  juries  ignore  indictments  and 
petit  juries  acquit  though  the  evidence  of  guilt  be  the  most  posi- 
tive; and  in  one  case  the  parties  accused  were  discharged  by  one 
of  the  judges  on  habeas  corpus. 

In  the  former  edition  of  this  pamphlet  allusion  was  made  to 
the  last  election  of  Mayor  Stokely  and  the  report  of  the  late 
William  Welsh,  as  chairman  of  a  committee  of  the  Reform  Club, 
appointed  to  investigate  alleged  frauds.  Mr.  Stokely  was  re- 
turned as  elected  by  a  majority  of  2866  votes  over  Joseph  L. 
Caven.  By  Mr.  Welsh's  report  it  appeared  that  a  canvass  was 
made  of  73  Republican  divisions  and  an  aggregate  of  1904 
fraudulent  votes  found  for  Mr.  Stokely,  or  an  average  of  26  to  a 
division,  while  an  average  of  less  than  four  votes  to  each  of  the 
803  election  divisions  would  give  him  the  majority  claimed.  In 
view  of  the  great  labor  and  expense  involved  the  committee  did 
not  recommend  a  contest,  but  their  investigation  showed  beyond 
reasonable  doubt  that  Mr.  Stokely  owes  his  election  to  the  usual 
frauds,  superadded  to  the  potent  influence  of  his  own  army  of  police. 

And  to  show  that  fraud  is  still  as  rampant  as  ever  we  have 
only  to  refer  to  the  contest  between  James  Dobson  and  John 
Bardsley  for  Council  in  the  28th  ward,  at  the  election  in  Febru- 
ary last.  The  principal  contest  being  in  that  ward  it  was  ap- 
parent throughout  the  day  that  the  usual  appliances  for  manu- 
facturing majorities,  in  the  way  of  repeaters,  personators,  etc., 
were  being  employed  and  concentrated  upon  that  ward.  Though 
Mr.  Bardsley  claims  to  be  a  Republican,  his  majorities  were 
mainly  from  those  divisions  known  to  be  Democratic.  In  one 
division  it  was  declared  beforehand  that  he  would  have  100  ma- 
jority, and  that  was  the  precise  majority  returned,  Mr.  Dobson 
being  given  but  four  votes.     In  the  divisions  controlled  by 


Bardsley  every  name  on  the  list  is  said  to  have  been  voted ;  and 
in  one  90  votes  were  recorded  as  given  in  the  last  30  minutes 
before  closing,  being  three  for  every  minute;  and  in  these 
divisions  the  result  was  kept  back  till  Mr.  Dobson's  majorities 
in  the  other  divisions  were  ascertained;  and  a  row  of  empty 
houses  a  square  long  is  said  to  have  furnished  each  one  or  more 
votes  for  Mr.  Bardsley. 

The  result  of  all  this — wholesale  fraud,  superadded  to  the  pre- 
ponderating influence  of  an  army  of  some  fifteen  thousand  men 
in  the  pay  of  the  people,  is  that  they,  the  people,  are  subject  to  a 
form  of  tyranny  more  oppressive  than  the  worst  form  of  mon- 
archy, and  that  republican  government  no  longer  exists  in  Phila- 
delphia except  in  name. 

Schemes  for  Hing  Aggrandizement— Special 
Legislation. 

When  the  accumulation  of  debt  and  increase  of  expenditure 
had  gone  on  till  any  reasonable  tax  rate  upon  the  old  assessment 
of  property  would  not  meet  the  demands  upon  the  treasury, 
assessments  upon  real  estate  were  put  up  to  the  full  value  of  the 
property.  The  rate  upon  this  rapidly  rose  till  it  is  now  as  high 
as  before  and  creates  serious  embarrassment.  To  increase  it  as 
necessary  to  meet  the  current  interest  and  expenditures  might 
rouse  the  people  to  revolt,  and  so  a  floating  debt  has  been 
allowed  to  accumulate  to  the  amount  of  some  $12,000,000,  and 
the  city  is  rapidly  drifting  into  •bankruptcy,  or  the  ruin  of  prop- 
erty-holders. What  new  devices  will  be  resorted  to  it  is  difficult 
to  imagine,  but  the  people  have  reason  for  alarm,  the  city 
government  being  without  any  head  to  watch  their  interests. 

The  latest  scheme  was  that  of  last  session,  transforming  the 
office  of  Recorder  of  Philadelphia  into  a  political  machine.  In 
surveying  the  field,  the  mercantile  tax  was,  it  seems,  thought  to 
offer  the  richest  chance  for  a  raise ;  it  is  a  large  source  of  revenue 
and  capable  of  very  profitable  manipulation,  and  has  heretofore 
not  been  neglected  by  any  means.  What  the  details  of  the  new 
system  are  to  be,  for  the  benefit  of  Mr.  Quay  and  the  party,  the 
Act  was  evidently  not  intended  to  disclose,  but  one  thing  is 
made  sure,  it  was  intended  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  political 
changes  and  the  people  for  ten  long  years ;  and  it  is  not  to  be 
hampered  with  the  odious  salary  doctrine,  the  yield  is  not  to  be 
limited.    It  is  a  subject  of  regret  to  those  who  have  been  dis- 


12 


posed  to  place  Governor  Hartranft  above  the  average  of  our 
political  managers,  to  find  that  he  appears  to  be  in  full  sym- 
pathy with  this  scheme ;  and  it  may  not  be  so  bad  as  feared, 
we  will  see ;  but  in  the  meantime  it  will  be  a  safe  rule  to  return 
no  man  to  the  legislature  who  gave  it  his  support,  as  did  all  the 
Republican  members  from  this  city,  and  all  the  Democrats  except 
one,  the  latter,  with  the  one  exception,  being  bought  over  by  an 
offer  of  some  of  the  places  under  the  act.  A  more  recent  scheme, 
suggested  by  a  distinguished  councilman  from  the  27th  ward,  is 
to  impose  a  tax  on  personal  property,  which  would  still  further 
drive  capital  and  business  away  from  the  city.  A  bill  origi- 
nated last  winter  by  city  councils  for  funding  the  floating  debt 
was  not  allowed  to  pass  without  an  amendment  that  some 
millions  should  most  of  the  time  lie  idle  in  the  hands  of  the  city 
treasurer,  for  the  benefit,  of  course,  of  himself  and  the  party. 

By  the  device  of  arranging  the  cities  of  the  State  into  classes 
and  making  Philadelphia  a  class  by  itself,  the  intended  consti- 
tutional safeguard  against  special  legislation,  is  effectually 
swept  away,  and  Philadelphia  is  at  the  mercy  of  her  highly 
moral  and  patriotic  delegation  in  the  legislature. 

Public  Disgrace— The  Legislature. 

If  all  other  considerations  be  insufficient  to  induce  the  well- 
meaning  portion  of  the  community  to  rise  up  and  do  their  duty 
as  citizens  toward  the  maintenance  of  good  government,  they 
ought,  at  least,  to  be  moved  by  the  disgrace  which  ring  rule  in- 
volves. It  is  fair  for  strangers  at  least  to  judge  of  the  character 
and  respectability  of  a  community  by  the  character  of  the  men 
who  are  selected  as  its  representatives,  and  allowed  to  become 
most  prominent  in  its  public  affairs.  In  our  centennial  year, 
councils  appropriated  some  thousands  of  dollars  for  an  entertain- 
ment in  the  park,  city  officials  and  their  co-ringsters  making  the 
principal  part  of  the  company.  Let  each  Philadelphia!]  ask 
himself  if  he  is  willing  to  be  estimated  by  the  general  character 
and  conduct  of  the  men  drawn  together  by  and  composing  that 
disgraceful  debauch  at  the  public  expense.  What  impression  of 
11-  was  carried  abroad  by  the  foreigners  who  may  have  been  un- 
wittingly drawn  into  the  spree? 

It  is  said  that  the  railroads  between  Harrisburg  and  Philadel- 
phia find  it  advisable,  doubtless  for  the  protection  of  their  gen- 
eral passengers,  to  provide  a  special  car  for  the  members  of  the 


13 


legislature  returning  to  Philadelphia  at  the  close  of  each  week, 
and  that  the  deportment  of  the  men  in  that  car,  when  thus  left 
to  themselves,  and  to  pursue  their  natural  bent,  is  such  as  marks 
the  lowest  grade  of  rowdyism.  And  these  are  the  legislators 
sent  to  represent  this  great  community,  and  to  make  laws  affect- 
ing the  lives  and  property  of  our  citizens.  Are  the  people  of 
Philadelphia  willing  to  continue  to  be  represented  by  the  class 
of  men  who  fill  that  car  ? 

If  there  is  any  class  of  officials  in  whose  freedom  from  every 
tarnish  the  community  is  more  interested  than  every  other,  it  is 
the  judges  of  the  courts.  A  few  winters  ago,  some  of  these,  who, 
is  not  now  remembered,  attended  a  grand  entertainment,  given 
by  one  of  the  most  notorious  of  those  who  have  grown  rich  by 
holding  office  in  Philadelphia.  Would  these  judges,  after  this, 
feel  competent  to  sit  on  the  trial  of  one  accused  of  receiving 
stolen  goods?  And  the  cordial  relations  shown  to  exist  be- 
tween a  majority  of  the  Common  Pleas  Judges  and  a  certain 
politician,  who  has  played  himself  out  with  the  people,  by  his 
appointment  to  the  office  of  Prothonotary,  is  equally  to  be 
regretted. 

The  Bar. 

In  the  alarming  political  degeneracy  of  the  present  day  it  be- 
hooves not  only  every  well-meaning  individual,  but  every  distinc- 
tive body  of  men  to  seek,  by  every  means,  to  elevate  the  standard 
of  a  higher  morality ;  and  there  is  no  class  of  men  of  whom 
so  much  is  required  in  this  respect  as  the  Bar.  In  his  valuable 
work  on  Legal  Ethics  Judge  Sharswood  says  :  "  There  is,  per- 
haps, no  profession,  after  that  of  the  sacred  ministry,  in  which  a 
hightoned  morality  is  more  imperatively  necessary  than  that  of 
the  Law.  *  *  *  The  dignity  and  importance  of  the  profession  of 
the  Law,  in  a  public  point  of  view,  can  hardly  be  over-estimated. 
*  *  *  Whether  they  seek  them  or  are  sought,  lawyers,  in  point 
of  fact,  always  have  filled,  in  much  the  larger  proportion  over 
every  other  profession,  the  most  important  public  trusts.  They 
will  continue  to  do  so,  at  least  so  long  as  the  profession  holds  the 
high  and  well-merited  place  it  now  does  in  the  public  confidence.'' 

This  was  said  some  twenty  years  or  more  ago,  and  as  to  the 
last  remark  it  is  to  be  feared  that  within  that  time,  and  perhaps 
for  a  much  longer  period,  "public  confidence"  in  the  profession 
has  been  on  the  wane.  An  instance  or  two  may  be  mentioned 
calculated  to  show  why  this  is  the  case. 


14 


In  the  late  Oxford  Turnpike  case  the  stockholders  of  the 
road  were  willing  and  glad  to  dispose  of  their  road  to  the  city 
to  be  made  a  free  road,  for  $20,000.  A  member  of  the  bar  as- 
certaining this,  at  his  own  solicitation  became  the  counsel  of  the 
Company  to  conduct  proceedings  against  the  City  to  recover  the 
value  of  the  road,  under  the  agreement  that  he  should  have  for 
his  fee  all  he  might  recover  over  the  $20,000,  and  so  managed 
the  case  as  to  obtain  an  award  for  $70,000,  thus  securing  a  fee 
of  $50,000  for  recovering  $20,000 !  The  truth  of  the  matter 
coming  to  the  ears  of  the  court,  fidelity  to  which  the  attorney 
had,  by  his  oath  of  admission  to  the  bar,  sworn  to  preserve,  pro- 
ceedings were  promptly  instituted  to  avoid  the  decree  and  compel 
the  attorney  to  disgorge,  in  which  two  distinguished  members  of 
the  bar,  one  of  them  an  ex-judge,  as  counsel  for  the  attorney 
exerted  their  utmost  powers  to  show  that  his  action  was  perfectly 
right,  and  he  entitled  to  his  fee  of  $50,000.  The  action  of  the 
court  restored  the  money,  but  left  the  attorney  in  full  standing 
as  a  member  of  the  bar,  the  integrity  of  which,  in  the  estimation 
of  Judge  Sharswood,  it  is  so  important  to  preserve. 

The  Constitution  of  1873  provided  that  the  fees  of  the  Pro- 
thonotary's  office  should  be  paid  into  the  county  treasury,  with 
an  exception  as  to  then  incumbents  of  this  and  other  offices,  and 
the  Prothonotary  paid  by  salary  ;  and  the  legislature  having 
fixed  the  salary,  some  citizens,  contending  that  then  at  least,  by 
the  supreme  command  of  the  Constitution,  fees  should  cease  and 
salary  begin,  filed  a  bill  for  that  purpose;  and  it  is  fair  to  assume 
that  such  was  at  least  the  right  of  the  matter  and  the  true  spirit 
of  the  Constitution.  Yet  of  the  two  distinguished  counsel  who 
undertook  to  maintain  the  right  of  Mr.  Mann  to  pocket  the  fees 
for  his  full  term,  one  was  himself  a  member  of  the  convention 
which  framed  that  Constitution,  and  it  is  presumed  would  hardly 
like  to  be  suspected  of  holding  private  views  consonant  with 
what  he  lent  his  professional  standing  and  services  to  maintain. 

Disclaiming  any  intention  to  impute  in  either  of  these  cases 
any  departure  from  what  seems  to  be  the  commonly  accepted 
standard  of  professional  purity,  or  to  assume  that  the  writer  i> 
more,  perfect  than  others,  it  is  meant  merely  to  suggest  whether 
those  eminent  at  the  bar  do  not  owe  it  to  themselves  and  the  pro- 
fession to  raise  a  moral  standard  which  would  preclude  their 
lending  the  weight  of  their  names  to  causes  of  such  a  character; 
and,  BS  a  general  proposition,  irrespective  of  the  cases  mentioned, 


15 


ought  it  not  to  be  understood  that  one  who  prizes  his  moral 
standing  at  the  bar  cannot  knowingly  accept  a  portion  of  the 
stolen  property  as  compensation  for  defending  the  thief,  and  es- 
pecially so  as  to  money  wrongfully  obtained  by  a  member  of  the 
profession. 

The  Press. 

Any  one  assuming  to  be  an  instructor  of  the  people  takes  upon 
himself  a  responsibility  peculiar  to  his  position,  and  is  morally 
bound  to  act  according  to  his  best  convictions  and  in  good  faith. 
This  applies  especially  to  one  taking  it  upon  himself  to  be  the 
editor  of  a  public  journal.  He  becomes  a  hypocrite  and  syco- 
phant of  the  worst  order  if  instead  of  boldly  proclaiming  his 
honest  convictions  in  his  comments  upon  current  topics  he  caters 
to  the  passions,  prejudices,  or  selfish  interests  of  corrupt  men. 
His  assertion  in  such  case  is  simply  a  lie,  as  many  times  told  as 
there  are  published  copies  of  his  journal,  and  his  power  for  mis- 
chief and  consequently  his  crime,  are  in  the  same  proportion. 
A  mau's  convictions  may  be  erroneous,  but  such  as  they  are,  ac- 
cording to  the  best  light  he  can  obtain,  he  is  bound  to  follow 
them  or  debase  himself  by  surrendering  his  manhood.  The 
commonest  case  of  such  debasement  is  that  of  the  editor  of  a 
journal  conducted  as  the  organ  of  a  particular  political  party,  and 
who,  not  content  with  upholding  fairly  and  squarely  the  peculiar 
tenets  of  his  party,  whatever  they  may  be,  and  which  he  may 
honestly  enough  approve,  can  see  nothing  wrong  that  is  done  on 
his  own  side  or  right  that  is  done  on  the  other.  This  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  climax  of  editorial  stupidity  and  debasement. 

There  can  be  no  greater  mistake,  and  there  would  seem  to  be 
none  more  common,  than  to  suppose  that  independence  in  journal- 
ism will  not  be  appreciated  by  the  great  majority  of  the  people 
in  this  country.  It  will  be  found  that  it  has  been  a  most  im- 
portant element  of  success  wherever  honestly  tried,  and  the  want 
of  it  explains  more  fully  than  anything  else  why,  heretofore  at 
least,  it  has  ever  been  so  difficult  to  find  a  Philadelphia  news- 
paper west  of  Pittsburg  or  south  of  Baltimore. 

Conclusion. 

The  inquiry  naturally  arises,  what  is  the  true  remedy  for  the 
evils  complained  of?  Some  who  have  labored  for  a  time  in  the 
cause  of  reform,  but  desisted  for  want  of  popular  support,  ex- 
press  the  opinion  that  the  people  have  not  yet  suffered  enough  to 


16 


be  ready  for  a  change ;  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  for  this  reason, 
remarkable  as  it  may  seem,  things  will  have  to  be  much  worse 
before  they  can  be  better.  Much  labor  and  money  have  been 
expended  by  a  State  commission  to  devise,  as  a  remedy,  some 
better  form  of  city  government.  It  is  not  change  of  form,  how- 
ever, that  is  needed,  but  simply  honest  administration. 

It  has  been  a  common  idea  that  all  would  be  speedily  right  if 
the  people  would  only  turn  out  and  vote  at  the  primary  meetings ; 
but  those  who  talk  thus  show  how  little  they  know  of  the  ways 
of  Philadelphia  politicians  at  the  present  day.  Though  the  form 
of  voting  is  gone  through  at  these  meetings  the  result  does  not 
depend  on  votes,  it  is  decided  by  counting,  and  the  election  which 
follows  is  about  as  often  as  not  determined  by  frauds  little  less 
bold.  Candidates  for  all  important  offices  are  set  up  by  the  Gas 
Trustees  and  other  head  ringsters,  and  the  conventions  merely 
go  through  the  form  of  ratifying  them,  and  so  long  as  the  citizens, 
with  the  unquestioning  simplicity  of  so  many  men  of  wood,  con- 
tinue to  ratify  the  nominations  thus  made,  there  will  be  no  change 
for  the  better. 

The  remedy  lies  with  the  body  of  voters ;  whenever  they  shall 
have  suffered  enough,  and  become  sufficiently  disgusted  with  the 
present  state  of  things  to  throw  off  their  party  shackles  and  rise 
up  and  assert  their  rights,  and  do  their  duty  as  republican  citi- 
zens, there  will  be  a  change,  and  not  before.  The  difficulties  arc 
great.  The  ring  commands  in  the  first  place  the  votes  of  some 
15,000  men,  in  the  pay  of  the  people  in  the  various  departments 
of  the  city  government ;  and  to  these  are  to  be  added  the  frauds 
habitually  invoked  when  occasion  requires,  which  may  be  put 
down  at,  say  10,000,  or  an  average  of  twelve  to  each  division, 
making  25,000  votes  to  overcome;  but  great  as  are  the  odds  to 
be  overcome,  it  can  and  will  be  done  whenever  a  sufficient 
number  of  the  people  become  sufficiently  tired  of  the  existing 
corruption.  The  new  Constitution  was  carried  in  Philadelphia 
by  a  majority  of  34,000.  Where  are  all  the  men  who  stood  up 
for  the  right  on  that  occasion? 

THOS.  H.  SPEAKMAN. 

No  26  N.  7th  St.,  Philada  ,  1878. 

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